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May 23

NYC.....hell yeah!

Just reached the Big Apple after a 2 hour flight delay…here for a week for Memorial Day weekend and to celebrate my bro’s birthday next week. My bro was pleasantly (I hope so) surprised to see me…I’d not informed him that I was coming….he felt bad that the apt was not in good shape…apart from a few empty heineken bottles, I thought it was fine :)….lot of plans for the weekend…a tour of the very famous metropolitan art museum, walk through the central park, visit one of the newest roop-top bars in NYC, Indian party Saturday night, visit a bar that according to some people is the best place for happy hours in NYC (I’ll believe it only when I’m there), broadway Sunday evening, a birthday BBQ Monday afternoon….exciting weekend!!!

Do I want to come back to Bloomington?? NO!!! Would I rather go to Chitown??? YES!!!!

I’ll post a few pics during the weekend….hope you all have a great long weekend (staying in Btown, every day was a long weekend for me!)

May 22

deeptirao:

What I miss most about home, part 9: Luscious mangoes at the height of summer.

Come April-May, the temperatures soar (the high 90’s) and out come the watermelons and mangoes. Now there are several varieties of mangoes, with sultry names - Alphonso, Bulsar, Swarnarekha, Neelam - none of them indicate what they actually taste like ;)

There’s nothing better than biting into a cold, juicy, sweet, ripe mango, any time of the day. I’m just hoping that in three weeks time, the last of the mango season still remains.

The ban on Indian mangoes in the US has been lifted last year. I still haven’t found good ones here. :(

I lovvveee mangoes!!!! Btw, Alphonso tastes better than Neelam :P and I’d never heard of Swarnarekha….that’s an exotic name! :)

May 5

Spring is finally over....

Finally got done with an eventful semester! Yes, spring was indeed quite eventful for many reasons….will try to summarize some of the “events”…highs and lows…

1) lost 22 lbs in January (all those days of hardcore workout and diet was great!)

2) on the flip side, the weight loss took a toll on me and fell really sick for the first few weeks in febraury…

3) one of my most favorite Indian music groups (RDB) was in Bloomington in Feb….had one of the BEST times of the semester at that party….danced all night! (yes, I do dance when I’m “happy” ;) )

4) was alone on valentine’s day yet again, but was happy that the special someone liked the gifts I sent her

5) team D4 did a great job in presenting the past, present and future of CIO (team D4 was one of the best teams I worked with at Kelley…all those counseling sessions were lot of fun!)

6) spring break in NY does not sound like fun, but NY is my second home in the US….will always go there at any given opportunity…had a family reunion, visited NYU and Princeton campuses, eat LOT of sushi, and ofcourse, watched Sampras and Federer play an exhibition match…truly an amazing experience!

7) not such a good epxerience was when my operating system failed to start after I got back from NY….for a couple of days, I did not have a laptop…and I cannot explain how “painful” that was….I don’t have roommates, I don’t have a laptop, I don’t have a TV, and I don’t read books….only thing I could do at home was to sleep….on a positive note, it put things in perspective…showed me how much my life was dependent on a gadget

8) got mauled by the bear in April :) two bears down and I broke my cell phone and camera….needless to say, losing all the contact numbers of my family and friends was quite frustrating….

9) Little Five! my buddies from Chicago were over…had a great time catching up on good’ol times…went to a house party, had 7 shots of Patron with a friend and danced all night till 5 a.m. (party was busted at the time)…reminded me of my undergrad life…good times! :)

10) went to restaurants I had never been to before in my 6 years at IU and as the weather got better outside….lunches became quite regular at the arboretum (by the small water pond) and dunn meadow…again something I had never done before at IU

11) Capstone Winners! yes, we did indeed win…came 2nd! one of the special highs of the semester….our team did go through quite a lot of highs and lows, but the best part was that we remained as a team….i have to thank all my team mates for a wonderful semester-long project….on the last day, when the team presented….i told the team….”we go in as winners….we leave the room as winners!!”

12) graduation time is always memorable….this year two of my really good friends graduated and are moving to NY to start great careers….having been here for so long and having seen friends graduate every year….I realized that graduation always comes with mixed feelings…on one side one is happy to graduate and start a career…on the other side….it is rather difficult to leave a place like Bloomington…I don’t know how I will feel when I leave Bloomington…

All said and done, the spring semester has not only taught me SOA, IT strategy, data warehousing…..but I have learnt that life must be lived on one’s own terms, and it does not depend on gadgets, learnt from personal and professional experiences…and finally learnt that change is the only constant in life….it’s upto the individual to be flexible and manage change with a positive attitude

Looking forward for a great summer ahead! I know it’s going to rock! Waiting to get to Chicago and I know all the team members of team D4 will be there….more going out guys….and more counseling sessions!! ;)

Mar 2

The “Little Master” scores yet another CENTURY!!!

Sachin Tendulkar - The GOD of cricket : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar

Guys, you should know who this sportsman is. He is one of the greatest cricketers in history and is as great as Pete Sampras, Maradona, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan…

He is considered as “GOD” in India as cricket is not a sport; it’s a RELIGION. 1 billion people stop their day’s work when the master is batting….

Mar 1

Sushi lounge?

Went to a “Sushi Lounge” in Warsaw, IN last night! A sushi lounge that serves bread and olive oil for starters and does not give chop sticks until its asked for….did I just say it was a ”sushi lounge”?? I’d never been to a Japanese place before that mixed in Italian traditions, had non-Japanese servers, and really good saketinis…quite amusing!

Feb 28

My eye-candy….

Free rice

check this website if u guys are bored and want to test your vocabulary skills..u will be doing a good to humanity!

beer, beer, beer

so whts this thing abt beer (or alcohol) anyways?? i mean…having lived here long enough to observe people’s reactions to beer…really intrigues me! you guys know what i’m talking abt…some guys say…if it’s free…i’ll drink it…otherwsise i don’t drink alcohol??? wtf?? how can someone only drink alcohol if it’s free??….i just don’t get it! i enjoy beer…so i drink it…period! nothing more..nothing less…and seriously, it’s not a big deal! its’ JUST BEER afterall…on a funnier note…a buddy of mine got a call from his “team leader” (who somehow knew that we’d all gone out drinking) last night and asked him if he was drunk?? it was just HILARIOUS!!! so blue moon has become my favorite beer…does anyone know why it’s called blue moon?? i mean… u drink it a slice of orange…it’s a white-ale…so why blue moon?? ….have u guys ever thought of some beer names and wht the names might imply…i did some research and found some really funny names….king cobra??…lion’s head?? …. imagine u are at a bar and a girl asks you..”so what beer are u having there”…and you are like “i have a king cobra…..i mean, i’m having a king cobra” lol! u guys know what i mean… :P…names man…just funny! beer, beer, beer….

Feb 27